Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 82/w19

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 19, Edition 82

Here’s your latest edition of Dubai news, deals & tips, every Thursday, in 10 mins or less.

📌 Location - first thing to think about when planning a trip to Dubai?

🧑‍✈️ Emirates profit, bonuses. Skywards 45% gift/buy bonus.

✈️ Plans for DWC to take over from DXB.

🤑 Saadiyat Island deals.

🪴 Dubai gains 1,000 residents a day!

Thanks for reading 👏 Shaun

PS. You can always email me here also.

Please note: some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links, and will be denoted with an asterisk (*). This is a link to a partner site that may pay me a commission - at no further cost to you - and if so, helps to support me & this newsletter. For more info, please see Disclosure and Policies

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Picking a Hotel or Planning a Dubai Trip? Do This First

Sometimes the best tips are the least sexy, and this week’s is a good example.

The big tip when it comes to Dubai, especially for a first-timer, is … location can really, really matter.

Why Location Matters in Dubai

Dubai is a city that has developed rapidly and sporadically, along one central highway.

Whereas most western cities have developed radially over centuries, Dubai has grown exponentially over a few decades - and often in ‘clumps’. For instance, Dubai Marina at the south end of Dubai, is now massively overdeveloped compared to when it was first built, which is why The Walk/JBR gets so congested. There are heaps of ‘vertical villages’ and only one or two main roads, with a few service roads.

From Marina Mall in Dubai Marina to Downtown, it’s around 25km on the highway. It can sometimes take the same again getting around the Marina to the highway, or even around Downtown.

Whilst public transport is generally a far higher standard than most places, and it’s convenient and economic to get around, bear in mind the Metro can get crowded at peak times and the Red Line only really runs parallel to SZR highway. Thus, you may still need a taxi to get to or from a Metro station.

On my first ever trip to Dubai from Saudi Arabia, we had a list of places we wanted to go for a night out - and just assumed they were all in one spot, ie ‘in Dubai’. Over the course of one evening, we must have spent around three hours in four or five taxis getting around them all, wasting valuable partying/drinking time!

Confusing Names, Areas and Hotels

On top of the layout, area and hotel names can have you grabbing for the headache tablets.

Jumeirah Beach effectively runs the length of Dubai, from the Creek inlet at Deira down to Jebel Ali. Some beaches and areas have their own names eg J1 Beach, Marina Beach, Kite Beach etc, but they’re still effectively part of Jumeirah Beach.

Jumeirah Beach Residences (JBR) is a development alongside The Walk by Marina Beach. The area known as Dubai Marina is generally considered to encompass Al Sufouh, Dubai Harbour, JBR/The Walk and Bluewaters. Not all Dubai Marina faces the beach though, as the inlet and far side is closer to SZR highway than the beach.

There is an a cluster of hotels including Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Burj al Arab, Al Qasr etc. by Jumeirah (hotel brand) close to Madinat Jumeirah, and the area north of here is called Umm Suqeim 3, Umm Suqeim 2, Umm Suqeim 1 with Jumeirah 3 being the north-most. To keep things ‘simple’, most folk just call the area north of Madinat Jumeirah running along the beach road ‘Jumeirah’. Otherwise, you could have Jumeirah Beach Hotel, on Jumeirah Beach, at Madinat Jumeirah in the area collectively know as Jumeirah!

Then there is what I call the RyanAir concept of naming hotels; and that is sometimes hotels pick names in their titles that may seem to have a somewhat elastic sense of geography. There used to be a Four Points Downtown that was nowhere near Downtown, as it was actually in Bur Dubai/Mankhool. Hilton Dubai Jumeirah is actually in the Marina, rather the area generally known as ‘Jumeirah’!

I mention all of this because if someone is thinking they want to stay on Jumeirah Beach, it’s just the same as saying Miami Beach - the main developed area is over 20+ miles long! Similarly, if you just said you wanted to be in ‘Jumeirah’ it could be confused with the area, or the beach, or the area known as JBR (which is about 20-25 mins further south).

What to Think About When It Comes to Location in Dubai

Before picking a hotel, I would always say you need to nail your location down first. It also helps to think about what type of holiday you’re after, be it a ‘drop and flop’, or a base to explore from.

Grab yourself a brew, beer, glass of wine or whatever and do a ‘desktop recce’ on Google Maps. Plan your ‘Points of Interest’, and check directions/distance (Metro details are included on Google Maps) and you will get a feel for which area/s could be worth considering.

As a baseline, allow 45 mins from Downtown to Marina to be on the safe side. Not all ‘points of interest’ are close to each other, and some - eg Motiongate, Global Villlage, Palm Jumeirah can be rather outlying. Ibn Battuta Mall is some 20 mins south past the Marina, and Dubai Parks and Resorts/Lapita is a further 20 mins from there.

Confusingly, Dubai doesn’t have a traditional ‘centre’, though I guess one consider areas such as Al Barsha relatively equidistant if you were looking all the typical places tourists may travel out to. If Al Barsha was the centre of the clock face, Creek would be at 12 (ie North), Downtown at 1, Global Village/Miracle Garden at 3, Marina at 7 and Palm Jumeirah at 9 - and all maybe half an hour away!

Location also matters because, despite what some agents may say, Ras al Khaimah is a completely different emirate to Dubai. It may be cheaper, it may offer more All Inclusive, but it’s still an hour and a bit away at the minimum.

The main thing I would point out in all of this is to pick location first, rather than search for hotels, dates, deals or be sold to, because even if you think you have a superb deal, if it’s what you think is the right hotel and it’s in the wrong area for your needs, it’s then the wrong hotel.

To save typing, this thread I did on Trip Advisor may help you a little as an overview of different areas of Dubai, and what they’re best for.

What I would also recommend thinking about is - development and concentration. By that I mean, if you pick an up and coming area that’s still being developed, there may not be shops, bars, cafes etc. immediately around. On the other hand, somewhere like Marina is brilliant for having everything on your doorstep, but if you’re in the middle of The Walk and trying to get a taxi, allow for sluggish traffic.

Areas like Al Barsha are really ‘dormitory suburbs’ rather than tourist hotspots, for instance. More development and concentration in Dubai often means more skyscrapers, which can then impact pools and sunbathing as there are more shadows and shade.

You may not think taxis are expensive in Dubai - and they’re not, being around 2.5 AED per km, but they soon add up to be a ‘timesuck’ if you’re in a Marina Hotel and travelling out and back each day to different areas of Dubai. This is why a ‘split stay’ is such as good idea, ie do the first half in a cheap city hotel somewhere like Business Bay, Al Barsha, Tecom/Barsha Heights that’s convenient for all your trips out, then move to Marina or Palm Jumeirah for a’ drop and flop’.

Conclusion

This isn’t in any way a rant, but location can really, really affect your plans in Dubai - depending on what you’re looking to do of course.

That resort at the tip of the Crescent of Palm Jumeirah may be lovely, but if you’ve runs out planned every day, you will be spending a lot of time (and money) in taxis shuttling around that you maybe could reduce, or even avoid.

And the way I look at savings in Dubai, is if you can save money and time, you can put that use somewhere else and have even more of a holiday!

ABU DHABI/UAE

Disney have announced plans for their seventh Disney destination to be created in Abu Dhabi at Yas Island.

It will be the first Disney theme park to be fully developed and built by a non-Disney company, which will be Miral Group, the developer of Yas Island and Louvre Abu Dhabi.

🔗 Disney to open its next global theme park in Abu Dhabi (Washington Post)

🔗 Disney to open theme park in the Middle East (BBC News)

The top 30 concerts and events coming this year, including Rod Stewart, Guns N’Roses, Hans Zimmer, Mary J.Blige and Jennifer Lopez.

Particular shout outs to terrific comedians such as Jim Jefferies, Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle.

Saadiyat Island have announced a few promotions including free hotel stays for children and attraction passes. As always, do read the ‘small print’ and shop around to compare.

DUBAI NEWS

Check out Dubai Police’s Rolls-Royce Cullinan, complete with Mansory widebody kit.

Talking of cool police vehicles, check out these awesome Bombardier buggies for emergency rescues in Hatta, complete with drone and smart 360 cameras.

File this under unusual. Fighting breaking out at a UAE Pro League match?

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Paul Griffiths of Dubai Airports confirms Dubai International Airport (DXB) will close one day and become real estate, though not when.

Al Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC), will cost upwards of $35 billion and see up to 260 million passengers, with the first phase due for completion around 2033. One plan under consideration is to have eight ‘mini airports’ connected by underground trains.

Did you know Dubai is seeing an increase of approximately 1,000 new residents each day? No wonder the traffic and Metro are getting worse 😃 

Ever wondered where do most tourists fly in from? Here’s a great breakdown of where those 5 million visitors from the first 3 months of 2025 came in from.

HOTEL NEWS

Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah recently marked 11 years since opening.

Here’s a good interview with David Wilson, the General Manager, who returned there not long ago.

Here’s a post I made on Quora about how great the service was whilst visiting during its soft opening. I was only a mere Gold in Hilton Honors then also, not the rarefied air of Diamond!

I often extol the virtues of a ‘split stay’ for first-timers, usually starting with a city hotel to do all the exploring from and then moving to a ‘drop and flop’ beach resort in Marina, Madinat Jumeirah or Palm Jumeirah to chill out and stay relatively static.

Two of the best areas for cheaper five star city hotels are Business Bay and SZR, specifically the area close to Zabeel roundabout and World Trade Centre. There is a strip of several hotels such as Fairmont, Conrad, The H and Sheraton Grand.

Here’s a review of Sheraton Grand from Inside Flyer, and I tend to agree with most of it. The hotel also has a residences section, which are more like apartments, and the only real cons are that the pool feels a little underwhelming and there is not a massive range of F&B outlets. It’s usually very good value, especially with all the Marriott Bonvoy benefits, and the Club Lounge is pretty good.

If you’re looking for tips for eating/drinking, do check out Fibber Magees and The Sum of Us.

Buddha-Bar Hotel and Buddha-Bar Beach are to open at Heart of Europe, World Islands.

The resort will be developed by Kleindienst Group, costing around 3 billion AED and is projected to be developed over a 24 month timescale.

HOTEL TIPS

In flagging up last week’s ‘Analysis of a Deal’ regarding Atlantis The Royal and Classic Travel, I should add a few things that will hopefully help a bit more.

To explain, Classic Travel* is one of an exclusive range of luxury travel agencies that can book travel through Virtuoso and other ‘preferred partner programmes’ (sometimes known as ‘VIP partner programmes’.

There are other agencies I use that do similar, but the advantage Classic Travel have is you can check live pricing via their website, whereas many Virtuoso agents/agencies often will take an enquiry, then get back to you with prices. Plus, you can see all the room categories, rate conditions etc. in real time with Classic Travel’s website*.

Classic Travel are a US-based agency (Madison Avenue in New York), and presently have almost 20,000 clients. You don’t have to pay to join, once you book or register for free, you’re a client/member.

What I neglected to mention is if you follow my link*, even if you’re not looking to book yet, be sure to sign up with your email - it doesn’t cost anything. It’s better than keep returning to the site, as then you are a ‘member’ and can opt in for email offers, updates and much more.

I’m grateful some readers have already booked through Classic Travel, and I’m delighted to have helped people discover the benefits of using ‘preferred partner programmes’ for hotel stays, as they can offer a lot of benefits and privileges.

What you are buying into via these programmes is that personal touch, as often the agent will go ‘above and beyond’ and communicate with the hotel once you’ve made your booking, which often goes a long way to helping with things like service touches, upgrades etc.

What I will say just for clarity, is when I recommend things, people, services or partner with them as an affiliate, it’s always because I’ve been a customer first and used them rather than just a ‘blind recommendation for revenue’. I am an affiliate for Classic Travel, but you don’t have to use them, and if you do click any of my affiliate links (marked with *) I may receive a small commission at no further cost to you.

If you prefer to deal with a UK-based Virtuoso agent, I heartily recommend Vince from QX Travel also.

Conclusion

If you fancy checking out VIP/preferred partner programmes, Classic Travel* and QX Travel are the ones I recommend.

• QX Travel if you prefer a UK-based agent, though it will be an enquiry first and then a follow-up.

• If you prefer to look at live pricing and do a booking online via a website, go for Classic Travel* (and don’t forget to sign up via that link even if you don’t book!).

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me and I’ll be happy to help.

EMIRATES

Buy or Gift Skywards, Receive Up to 45% Bonus

Emirates Skywards have a time-limited “Early Bird Bonus Miles” promotion for buying or gifting Skywards Miles.

Offer is open from 08 May through to 22 May. Buy by 09 May for 45% bonus Miles, and it drops to 25% bonus Miles purchased from 10 May through to 22 May.

🔗 Early Bird Bonus Miles (Emirates)

Emirates Skywards members can now use Classic Rewards for flights on Fly Dubai across all classes.

Emirates to double the number of Premium Economy seats to 2 million by end of 2025.

Emirates have posted record annual profits, up 18% from last year, and will pay a 6 billion dirhams dividend to its owner, Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund. Eligible employees will receive a 22-week bonus. Nice.